Title: The Real Jesus
Scripture: Luke 1:1-4
Speaker: Gabe Coyle, GabeC@ChristCommunityKC.org

In extracting the pure principles which he taught, we should have to strip off the artificial vestments in which they have been muffled by priests, who have travestied them into various forms, as instruments of riches and power to themselves...There will be found remaining the most sublime and benevolent code of morals which has ever been offered to man. I have performed this operation for my own use, by cutting verse by verse out of the printed book, and arranging the matter which is evidently his, and which is as easily distinguishable as diamonds in a dunghill. The result is an octavo of forty-six pages, of pure and unsophisticated doctrines. - Thomas Jefferson, The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth

“You can safely assume you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do” - Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird

#1 Listen to those who knew Jesus.

The Gospels, New Testament documents are the products of oral traditions. The first followers of Jesus told the stories, that got passed on and on and on...for a long time. Like a game of telephone. The message and stories kept getting passed on and on and on...And then eventually some people wrote those oral traditions down - a long time after Jesus died. So we can’t be sure what is true to the life of Jesus...and what isn’t…Luke’s Gospel is mostly Luke’s opinion and very old tradition… - Bart Ehrman, Jesus before the Gospels

1) Luke is saying I am putting my whole life into this Jesus
2) Luke is writing this Gospel for Theopholis to have certainty.

Reasons why this is so hard:
#1 We have tons of options
#2 We want an agreeable Jesus